Deferred prosecution agreements

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This Overview signposts key resources on deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), including legislation, prosecutorial guidance, judicial decisions and practical guidance materials.

DPAs are a principal tool for resolving corporate economic crime in England and Wales. Under Schedule 17 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013, the SFO or CPS may invite an organisation (not an individual) to enter a DPA for specified economic offences. A DPA avoids conviction while imposing terms such as a financial penalty, disgorgement, compensation, cooperation and compliance improvements, subject to court approval.

Practitioners should understand eligibility and offence coverage; the evidential and public interest tests in the SFO/CPS DPA Code of Practice; and the staged procedure from confidential negotiations to preliminary hearing in private and final hearing. The court must be satisfied that a DPA is in the interests of justice and that its terms are fair, reasonable and proportionate, with publication of the judgment and statement of facts.

Key practical issues include penalty assessment by reference to Sentencing Council guidelines; monitorship and reporting; self - reporting and cooperation (including treatment of privilege and witness accounts); parallel prosecutions of individuals; cross - border coordination and information...

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